Immunization Program Makes It Easy For Seniors To Get Flu Shots

October 21, 2005|By Diane C. Lade Staff writer

Yolanda Gentile was a toddler when the great influenza pandemic struck in 1918, infecting a fifth of the world's population and killing 675,000 Americans.

She remembers none of it. But Gentile became a woman who takes the flu seriously, who gets her vaccination every year "because that's what the doctor tells you to do," she said, the metal, jeweled bow in her hair bouncing as she nodded. "And now that bird flu is running around."

At 89, it's a lot harder to follow her doctor's orders. Gentile lives alone in her Lantana mobile home and she no longer drives. So she appreciates that her flu shot comes to her.

Gentile is one of thousands of Palm Beach County seniors who will be vaccinated this flu season through the Senior Immunization Project. A collaborative effort of several community agencies and local fire departments, the project brings preventive medicine to places where seniors play, live and worship.

Dominga Diaz, holding a numbered index card that guaranteed her place in line, didn't flinch when she got her shot about an hour after Gentile at the Mid-County Senior Center in Lake Worth. Paramedics from Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue and the city of Lake Worth seated her at a long folding table, took her health history and gently swabbed her arm when it was over.

"I came here because I come here every day anyway," said Diaz, 73, from West Palm Beach. Originally from Puerto Rico, she enjoys the center's easy-going atmosphere and camaraderie. About half of the roughly 100 people who come each day are minorities; one of the center staff doubled as a translator for the paramedics, because some seniors speak Spanish only.

The Area Agency on Aging Palm Beach/Treasure Coast, which manages the project, has booked more than 70 clinics from October through December, targeting places where minority and low-income seniors might gather. They include churches, hot-lunch sites, housing developments and senior centers.

The seniors vaccinated last year hailed from more than 60 countries, and 36 percent had annual incomes under $15,999.

Anyone over age 65 is considered at higher risk of getting the flu, but these elders are especially vulnerable, project supervisor Joan DeVaughn said. They are less likely to have had preventive healthcare throughout their lives, and are more at risk for chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes due to poor diet.

Some have no transportation or can't even leave their beds on their own. In a few cases last year, paramedics went to a senior's apartment and vaccinated them there.

Those getting their shots through the project also are less likely to be able to pay for one. Diaz and Gentile both have no income but their Social Security checks.

A report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found among 5,538 patients age 65 and older tracked in 2003, 48 percent of blacks and 45 percent of Hispanics were vaccinated for flu, as compared to 69 percent of whites.

The program also offers pneumonia and tetanus shots. "Our goal is to reduce mortality among the elderly by vaccinating for preventable diseases," DeVaughn said.

Last year, the Senior Immunization Project gave 2,070 flu vaccinations, plus another 140 pneumonia shots and 246 tetanus vaccines. DeVaughn plans to do at least that number this year.

The project began in 2001 as an idea hatched by the West Palm Beach Fire-Rescue paramedics, who said they wanted to do something to keep seniors healthy rather than assist them only when they were sick. The Quantum Foundation got things started with a $22,200 grant and is the major source of its budget this year.

Other partners include the Board of County Commissioners, the Health Care District and the United Way. The county's Department of Health acts as the project's medical supervisor and trains the fire-rescue workers to give the vaccines.

Capt. Glenn Jordan, who usually is in charge of helicopters for Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, enjoyed a change of pace as he cajoled seniors braced for the needle to loosen up.